Nigeria’s inflation dips to 11.22% in June

Tola Akinmutimi

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday reported that Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index, (CPI), which measures inflation, increased by 11.22 percent (year-on-year) in June, representing 0.18 percent points lower than the 11.40 percent rate recorded in May.

The agency stated that increases were recorded in all the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

Analysing the general price level in the economy futher, the NBS reported that on month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.07 percent in the month under review, or 0.04 percent rate lower than the 1.11 percent rate recorded in the preceding month.

It stated that the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ended June 2019 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 11.29 percent.

This is similar to the 11.29 percent recorded in May 2019.

A further analysis of the inflation on urban and rural basis showed that the urban inflation rate increased by 11.61 percent (year-on-year) in June 2019 from 11.76 percent recorded in May 2019, while the rural inflation rate increased by 10.87 percent in June 2019 from 11.08 percent in the preceding month.

The NBS reported that on a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.10 percent in June 2019, up by 0.05 from 1.15 percent recorded in May 2019, while the rural index also rose by 1.05 percent in June 2019, up by 0.02 from the rate recorded in May 2019 (1.07) percent.

It clarified further: “The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 11.65 percent in June 2019.

“This is less than 11.66 percent reported in May 2019, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in June 2019 was 10.99 percent compared to 10.98 percent recorded in May 2019,” the NBS added.